Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.
That should probably be more like “practice makes perfect, but not if you practice your mistakes, only if you practice doing things correctly.” But that’s too long to say all the time. And anyway, right now I want to figure out the best way of using our limited back yard practice space efficiently, and so that we are not practicing any mistakes.
Here is what we have to work with:
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The second half of April kind of sneaked up on me. Freya and I were not entered in any rally obedience trials this month, but we did not get in as much good training time as I had hoped to. We didn’t totally waste the first half of the month, but we still have a lot to work on.
Yesterday’s rally class had its ups and downs. I’m still not able to get a full 6 feet to the right of the jump if I want to be sure that Freya will go over it, and not around it. The strategy remained the same as last week: lower jump height and handler closer to the jump on the run-by. I have ruled out injury or discomfort as Freya’s reason for sometimes refusing the jump. It’s more likely that she is being lazy or smart or both, and is taking the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, not acceptable for this particular sport!
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I was so happy to get this in the mail today…
You’ll recall the small panic over Freya’s scores being recorded incorrectly, as well as my happiness at the speed with which Beth at UKC rectified the error.
Even considering my usual obsession with getting the online and physical proof of our accomplishments in hand, this one is a slightly bigger relief to actually have in my hands!
(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 12 of 30)
Remember our one, count ’em, just one, lonely point earned towards our APDT ARCH last month? Well, here it is!
When we started doing rally obedience, my only goal for Freya was to earn a novice level title, and maybe, just maybe, an advanced title. I’m really not sure we’ll be able to get the consistently high scores needed, especially in the off-leash levels, to earn the ARCH, UROC or any combined-level titles other than RAE, which requires qualifying scores but not high scores.
I’ll give it a try, even if just to make sure that one lonely point isn’t so lonely after our next trial!
(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 11 of 30)
This was Freya’s first class in quite a while. Weekend trials and a minor injury in March kept her away from her usual Saturday classes, and weather and work kept her away from any weeknight classes or lessons. April is supposed to be a serious training month to prepare for trials in May and June.
Today wasn’t a great start, but it wasn’t horrible either. Our practice course today was an APDT Level 2 course designed by one of the judges some of us will be trialing under the weekend of May 1-2. This course used Send Over Jumps – Handler Runs By, so we got some much-needed jump practice. Freya’s jump height is 16″ but today’s jumps were done at 8″ and 12″ to keep it easier and more fun, for her, anyway.
For APDT, the handler must pass by 6 feet to the right of the jump. For UKC, the distance is 2-3 feet and for AKC, it is not explicitly specified (not that I could find in the rules). When I was farther away from the jump, it seemed that Freya was more likely to try to go around it. My plan right now is to get to where she will take a lower jump every time with me passing by 2-3 feet away, and then work on moving up to her full jump height. Then we will work on adding distance between me and the jump. In APDT, if the dog refuses the jump by going around, it is an automatic NQ with no retry allowed; there is a 3-point deduction if the handler passes by less than 6 feet away from the jump. So it’s obviously way more important to make sure she never refuses the jump.
I’m also finding myself at a point where I have to really do a better job of remembering the differences in rules and performance of certain exercises between UKC, APDT and AKC. Even though there are way more similarities than differences, there are enough important differences that could mean the difference between qualifying and failing at any specific trial.
We have a lot to do this month!
(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 10 of 30)